On August 22nd, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial opened to the public. The dream of creating a memorial to Dr. King, initiated decades ago around the kitchen table of two Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members in Atlanta, has finally become a reality. Dr. King - a private citizen and man of peace - has taken his rightful place on the National Capital Mall on lands previously reserved to honor the memory of past wars and former presidents. This is the last memorial to be built on the central portion of the Capital Mall and it is the first to celebrate the contributions to democracy by an African American.